A cluster (1 × 6 m, 1 m thick) of numerous pottery fragments was discovered on virgin soil, without any association to architectural remains. Many of the vessels had been fired at high temperatures, which caused deformation and fusion of fragments that became running lumps of clay. These finds are indicative of a pottery workshop in the area. Due to the limited scope of the excavation and the damage caused to the site over the years, only a small part of the potters’ debris area was exposed.

The finds included a bowl (Fig. 1:1), an imported bowl from North Africa dating to the years 325–400 CE (Fig. 1:2), a krater (Fig.1:3), a frying pan (Fig. 1: 4), a lid (Fig. 1:5), a cooking pot (Fig. 1:6) and two types of amphorae: an amphora with a rounded rim (Fig. 1:7, 8) and one with a thickening below the rim (Fig. 1:9, 10). A rim fragment of this amphora type that had a remnant of clay still affixed to it, which was fired together with the vessel (Fig. 1:11), was found. Two types of bases that probably belonged to these amphorae were discerned: a concave (Fig. 1:12) and a conical base (Fig. 1:13). A jar lid (Fig. 1:14) characterized by a flat inverted rim and shallow ribbing on the higher body was discovered, as well as a stand (Fig. 1:15) that has a curved and thickened rim.

The breakdown examination of the ceramic finds in the debris heap shows that most of the vessels produced in the workshop were amphorae (86%). The rest of vessel types constituted each 1%–2% of the overall production and it is difficult to know if they were manufactured at the site or were part of a vessel assemblage that was just used there. Support for the latter can be found in the imported bowl (Fig. 1:2) that was certainly not produced in this pottery workshop.

The pottery workshop north of Akhziv is one of five workshops known along the northern coastal plain of Israel and the southern coastal plain of Lebanon, where amphorae were manufactured at the end of the Roman period (Fig. 2). The other pottery workshops are Horbat Masref (south), near Akhziv (R. Frankel and N. Getzov, Map of Akhziv [1] and Map of Hanita [2], Site 14), Kh. ‘Eitayim (near Nahariya; Z. Goldman, 1961, A Potter’s Kiln at Horvat Etayim [preliminary report], The Western Galilee, M. Yeda‘aya and A. Gil [eds.], Sulam Zor-Ga‘aton Regional Council, pp. 76–77), ‘Evron (HA-ESI 109:93*) and Horbat ‘Uza (ESI 13:19–21).